Updated Conn Smythe watch

A goalie claims the top spot, and Blackhawks dominate the rankings

Bill Smith/NHLI/Getty ImagesCorey Crawford has come alive in the playoffs, leading the playoff netminding field in key statistics.

Editor's note: These rankings are based on player production in terms of Hockey Prospectus' goals versus threshold (GVT) valuation metric. If you are unfamiliar with GVT and how it works, you can learn more here.

Throughout the season, Hockey Prospectus provided Player Power Rankings for the top 10 skaters and top five goalies in the NHL based on HP's proprietary value metric GVT, a statistic that combines player contributions in all aspects of the game, including offense, defense, goaltending and the shootout. With the shootout eliminated for the playoffs, that component is removed from the equation.

As we get closer to the Stanley Cup finals, this serves a guide to which players should be in the mix for the Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP) if a strict mathematical approach were taken to the award. With the field narrowing to our final four Cup contenders, the rankings will no longer take a positional approach; instead, we'll look at the top 10 overall in terms of GVT.

Top 10 Players

Crawford has been strong in every series: a .934 save percentage against St. Louis, .926 against Minnesota and .962 in Game 1 against L.A. He leads remaining playoff goaltenders in goals-against average (1.90), save percentage (.933) and GVT.

While the rest of the final four teams have multiple players in the Top 10, Lundqvist stands as the lone representative from the Rangers, another sure sign of his value to his team. He was impeccable in Games 5, 6 and 7 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, stopping all but three of the 105 shots he faced.

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